1862 Brooklyn Eagle — Meagher & the Irish Brigade First Edition — Jan 14

📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜

This is The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for Tuesday, January 14, 1862 — Vol. 21, No. 11 — one cent, and one of the most richly detailed issues in this series.

The First Edition section carries a dispatch addressed to Thomas Francis Meagher — the Irish revolutionary turned Union general, the most celebrated Irish-American soldier of the Civil War, and the commander of the legendary Irish Brigade. In a city where tens of thousands of Irish immigrants had settled, where the docks and neighborhoods were full of men with brothers and cousins in Meagher's ranks, a dispatch bearing his name would have stopped Brooklyn readers cold.

This paper also carries some of the clearest, most readable front-page content in the collection — a detailed record of Brooklyn life on a January Tuesday in 1862, dense with the names, institutions, and concerns of a city at war.

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☘️ THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER & THE IRISH BRIGADE ☘️

Thomas Francis Meagher was one of the great romantic figures of the Civil War. Born in Ireland, exiled to Tasmania for his role in the 1848 rebellion, escaped to America, and by 1861 commanding the most famous ethnic regiment in the Union Army — the Irish Brigade, composed largely of Irish immigrants from New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

The Irish Brigade fought at Bull Run, at Antietam — where they suffered catastrophic losses charging the Sunken Road — and would go on to their most tragic hour at Fredericksburg in December 1862. They carried green flags alongside the Stars and Stripes and fought with a ferocity that made them famous on both sides of the lines.

In January 1862, the Brigade was encamped outside Washington with the Army of the Potomac, waiting for McClellan to move. Brooklyn, with one of the largest Irish-American populations in the country, watched Meagher's every dispatch with intense personal interest. A First Edition carrying his name was not just news — it was news about their own.

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🎉 THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL BALL — DALE GRANT ⚔️

The front page also carries notice of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Ball of the Dale Grant — a major Brooklyn social event. This is the Civil War home front in full color: the Irish Brigade's general in the First Edition columns, and a grand annual ball on the front page. Brooklyn was mourning and celebrating, worrying and dancing, all at the same time.

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📰 BROOKLYN IN FULL — JANUARY 14, 1862 📰

The front page of this issue is among the most legible and content-rich in the series, carrying a remarkable range of Brooklyn life including the Brooklyn Fire Department visitors notice, New Heavy Artillery war updates, The Eye and the Ear cultural column, Literature Science and Art featuring "The Two Margarets," Varieties, The Holiday, Corporation Notices, Long Island and Hudson River railroad listings, dentistry, dancing notices, the 361 address classifieds, and a prominent $20,000 financial notice.

The back page continues the Dickens serial — Tom Tiddler's Ground — running installment by installment through the Eagle's January issues.

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📰 THE PAPER ITSELF 📰

Publication: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 1862
Volume / Issue: Vol. 21, No. 11
Price: One Cent
Key Features: First Edition dispatch to Thomas F. Meagher · Irish Brigade coverage · Twenty-Fourth Annual Dale Grant Ball · Brooklyn Fire Department · New Heavy Artillery · Dickens' Tom Tiddler's Ground continuation · Literature, Science and Art
Format: Full broadsheet issue, multiple pages

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🔍 TRANSPARENCY 🔍

Authenticity: Guaranteed original letterpress printing from January 14, 1862 — not a facsimile or reproduction.

I have photographed every page of this issue. Please review all images carefully and feel free to ask for additional close-ups of any section before purchasing.

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📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION 📦

Housed in an acid-free archival folder to protect the 163-year-old newsprint
Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement to ensure safe arrival
Fully tracked for your peace of mind

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The Irish Brigade's general in the First Edition. A grand ball on the front page. Brooklyn in January 1862, holding everything at once.

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🏷️ TAGS

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